PSY 245 Lecture 29: Psy 245 Lecture 29
4 Dec 2020
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Document Summary
Monozygotic co-twins of a twin with unipolar major depression are about twice as likely to develop major depression as are dizygotic co-twins. 31-42%of the variance in major depression is due to genetic influences, but the estimate is even higher for more severe, recurrent depression. Symptoms such as depressed mood or tearfulness do not appear to be heritable, whereas other symptoms (e. g. , loss of libido and loss of appetite) have a heritable basis. Monoamine hypothesis depression was at least sometimes due to an absolute or relative depletion of one or all of these neurotransmitters at important receptor sites in the brain. Acth then travels through the blood to the adrenal cortex of the adrenal glands where cortisol is released. Depressed patients with elevated cortisol also tend to show memory impairment and problems with abstract thinking and complex problem solving because prolonged elevations in cortisol result in cell death in the hippocampus.
